–NBR President Richard Ellings

Origins and the Jackson Legacy

The origins of the National Bureau of Asian Research date back to Senator Henry M. Jackson, who believed that an urgent need existed for an institution that could tap the nation’s best expertise to study Asia and Russia with U.S. national interests in mind.

NBR was established in 1989 with major grants from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation and the Boeing Company. Funding for NBR today comes from a wide range of sources, including foundations, corporations, government departments and agencies, and individuals.

Senator Jackson’s legacy shapes NBR’s essential values: integrity, honesty, concern for people, loyalty, importance of foreign policy, integration of realism and idealism in foreign policy, importance of China and relations among the great powers, and the importance of bipartisanship in making policy.

(Above) Senator Henry Jackson discusses the Sino-Soviet Center with Professor Ken Pyle, former Chairman of the United Airlines and Westin Hotels Eddie Carlson, and former Chairman of Boeing T. Wilson.

With Professor Pyle as Founding President, the National Bureau of Asian and Soviet Research was established in 1989, later to be renamed the National Bureau of Asian Research.